This weekend, my husband and I went to see the movie, The Last Rodeo. It was awesome! I have seen the main actor, Neal McDonough, in many roles, but all of them were bad guys. So seeing him play the good guy was new. I worried I would spend the whole show only seeing him as Damien Dark. But the moment the movie started, he wrapped his character around himself. Neal McDonough is a good actor! He was not anyone else but a heartbroken cowboy, and the movie was spectacular.
Warning: from this point on, there will be spoilers. I will try to share without giving too much away. But this movie truly moved me, and it deserves to be seen over and over again.
Now I need to admit something. I grew up in a small town in Illinois, and we didn’t have rodeos often. So Rodeo is fairly new to me. I’m amazed by the power of the animals. And it shocked me to realize that the only way to get off a bucking bull is to fall on the ground, and pray you aren’t trampled. In my innocence, I thought it was a much gentler dismount.
I was impressed with the safety measures they have for the bull riders. They wear what looks like bulletproof vests to avoid being gored. And their helmets resemble hockey helmets, complete with grills over their faces. In my grandpa’s day, they only wore cowboy hats on their heads. During the movie, it was mentioned that if you were born before 1993, you could choose whether to wear a helmet or a hat. They called it being “Grandfathered in”. And our hero wore both while competing.
Synopsis
The movie is about a retired rodeo legend whose grandson has a serious brain tumor. It’s the same kind of brain tumor that killed his wife years before. And the intense surgeries required won’t be covered by insurance. Fortunately, there is a big rodeo happening, and so our hero gets himself into the competition.
As a rodeo newbie, I was impressed with the huge crowd at the event. The size of the arena was impressive! I have never seen anything like it. And these rodeo cowboys are true athletes. Seeing the animals they had to work with, there is no doubt that it takes grit and strength to succeed. I remember hearing stories about my grandpa riding brama bulls in the rodeo in Idaho. And how, after he broke his pelvis, he never competed again. Seeing the intense physicality of bull riding, I now understand why he stopped competing. It looks like even a healthy person risks their life getting on a bull.
Grief
I appreciated how the movie handled grief. Everyone faces the loss of a loved one at one time in their lives. I think it’s almost universal that you want to shut out the world and wallow. But I saw how that affects friends and loved ones through this movie. And it taught me that you miss out on a huge source of support when you do that. I pray that when I come to that trial, I handle it better because of the example of our hero.
In the movie, I learned that when you pull into yourself and pull away from family and friends, everyone suffers. Our hero lost his wife and chose not to have a funeral. He stopped seeing family and friends. And he got drunk and got on a bull, which led to a major injury and a long recovery. It changed the lives of his family and friends, who had to take care of him and grieve on their own. If he had chosen differently, I saw how everyone would have been strengthened if they had leaned on each other. The pain was raw, but we got to witness the healing that comes with forgiveness. It was beautiful.
Family values
I loved how even though our Hero’s family and friends had been hurt by his behavior, they still chose to rally together. It is beautiful to see family values highlighted in a movie. I also appreciated how our Hero found his faith as the story progressed. And it didn’t end how I expected, it was even better.
Did you know that Neal McDonough had his real-life wife in the movie? Whenever you see the woman who is his deceased wife, that is Ruve, Neal’s wife in real life. She is a beauty! And I love how they pulled a little reality into the film. Often, actors are forced to kiss people who aren’t their husbands or wives, and I think it would be really hard. I love that they honored Neal and Ruve’s relationship by putting her in the movie.
Community
I also want to focus on the part that the community played in The Last Rodeo. We got to see our Hero’s friends and contacts in the Rodeo circuit pull together to help him. He had a friend who let him use his plane to see his grandson before his surgery. They were in the middle of a competition, and our Hero still got to fly out to be with his daughter and encourage his grandson before a major surgery. Then he made it back in time to finish the competition. That is some serious support, and not a cheap endeavor.
I don’t want to ruin the ending, but the entire rodeo community played a major part in helping our Hero and his family. Both financially and spiritually, they rallied around them. It brought tears to my eyes when they held a moment of silence and prayer for Cody, our hero’s grandson, before his surgery. The power of prayer is significant. And seeing so many people in that giant arena praying for Cody, it was a highlight of the movie for me.
More movies needed
We need more movies like The Last Rodeo. I went into it knowing the basic plot. But the faith part was done so well. It wasn’t contrived or forced. And I was truly moved, with tears running down my face by the end. I left that theater a better person than when I entered. Not many movies can claim that. And we need more uplifting entertainment like this in the world. Great work to Angel Studios and Neal, and the entire cast. I highly recommend you go see The Last Rodeo while it is still in theaters.
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